Innovation Programmes
Canada call for projects number 6 – Summer-Fall 2025
Countries
About this call
Funding information
The national funding body from Canada, National Research Council Canada (NRC), allocated funding for organisations collaborating on international R&D projects in all technological fields and application domains.
Your project should:
- demonstrate the potential to research or develop a product, process or service for commercialisation.
Timeline
- Apply from: 1 July 2025
- Registration deadline (Canadian SME applicants only): 5 September 2025
- Expression of interest deadline (Canadian SME applicants only): 19 September 2025
- Submission Deadline: 21 November 2025 (23:59 CEST / 17:59 EDT Ottawa)
- National funding procedures: February-March 2026
- Projects can begin (expected): April-May 2026
Who can apply for this call
To apply, you must meet several eligibility criteria:
- Your project idea must represent international cooperation in the form of a specific project.
- The project must be directed at researching or developing an innovative product, process or service with the goal of commercialisation.
- The project must have a civilian purpose.
- Your consortium must include at least two independent legal entities from a minimum of two Eureka countries.
- No single organisation or country can be responsible for more than 70% of the project budget.
Canada has additional eligibility criteria for this call for projects:
- be an incorporated, profit-oriented small or medium sized enterprise (SME) in Canada (defined as having 500 or fewer full-time equivalent employees)
- have been in operation for a minimum of 12 months prior to the project proposal deadline specified above
- have a minimum of 5 full-time equivalent employees located in Canada (on your company payroll and issued a T4), excluding contract employees
- pursue growth and profit by developing and commercialising innovative, technology-driven new or improved products, services or processes in Canada
- have a differentiated and protectable technology with commercial potential in global markets
- have the financial capacity (working capital, sales revenue, investment, etc.) and the operational capacity (personnel, expertise, resources, etc.) to undertake an international multi-year R&D collaboration while maintaining regular operations, and to subsequently commercialise the results
- be committed to significant growth through international market expansion
Preference may be given to SME applicants that meet the criteria below. If one or more criteria are unmet, a strong rationale must be provided in the Expression of Interest (EOI) form for possible consideration:
- have a minimum of 15 full‑time equivalent employees located in Canada (on your company payroll and issued a T4), excluding contract employees
- have commercialised one or more products internationally
- have more than 500,000 Canadian dollars in annual sales revenue.
Country information
Canada 🇨🇦
＋−
In Canada, this call for projects is offered through the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP). NRC IRAP is responsible for delivering this call for proposals and for managing any resulting funding agreements.
NRC IRAP funds R&D costs for Canadian SMEs participating in our Eureka Network Projects programme.
Eligible Canadian SMEs may receive up to 50% reimbursement of eligible project costs, up to a maximum total funding amount of 500,000 Canadian dollars, over 12 to 36 months.
The funding is a non-repayable contribution against approved work completed and invoiced.
Note: Canadian SME applicants may apply to more than one NRC IRAP call for proposals simultaneously. However, NRC IRAP may limit the number of funded projects and/or the total amount of funding per applicant. Canadian SME applicants who are applying to more than one opportunity or who have ongoing NRC IRAP projects should speak to their NRC IRAP representative for more information.
Note: Canadian SME applicants must be eligible for funding as NRC IRAP clients before they can be considered for funding through this call for proposals. For more information on NRC IRAP eligibility and becoming an NRC IRAP client, please contact NRC IRAP at +1-877-994-4727.
For more information, please consult the NRC IRAP International opportunities call webpage.
If there is no allocated budget for your organisation type in your country and you want to participate in a project consortium, contact your national funding body using the form below to see whether there are other funding opportunities available or talk to them about self-funding.
Additional steps for applications from Canada
Canadian applicants must complete the following steps to submit an application:
- You must register with NRC IRAP to determine basic NRC IRAP eligibility and to obtain the required Expression of Interest (EOI) form by 05 September 2025. Registration is done using the NRC IRAP International Opportunities call webpage. Filter using “Canada Eureka Network”. This webpage details all the Canadian requirements and application steps for this call.
- Complete and submit the EOI form to NRC IRAP by 19 September 2025. We strongly recommend Canadian applicants to complete the EOI phase as early as possible, in order for NRC IRAP to confirm the firm’s potential eligibility for funding before assembling and submitting a proposal.
- Qualified applicants will be invited to submit the more detailed Eureka Network Projects proposal and draft consortium agreement in collaboration with their project partner(s). Qualified Canadian applicants will be provided an NRC IRAP Canadian SME Annex form that must be completed along with the Eureka Network projects proposal.
For information related to application steps, requirements, instructions, Eureka online project application, and the National Funding Body proposal and funding agreement, please consult the NRC IRAP call for proposals announcement.
Application process
How to apply for this call
- Contact your ministry or funding agency through Eureka’s website to discuss your project idea, finances, eligibility and procedures.
- Create an account on our application portal (one per consortium) and select the funding opportunity you want to apply to.
- To apply, use the portal and complete one application form per consortium in English. Additionally, request that other partners fill out a partner form.
- Submit a GANTT chart, a signed co-signature form (available for download on the platform), and any other required attachments.
- We will check your application for completeness and eligibility before reviewing it using a standard evaluation procedure. If successful, your project will receive a Eureka label.
- Your country or region’s ministry or funding agency may conduct another evaluation performed by experts and based on national regulations.
- The final step is to complete and sign a consortium agreement. We recommend that you seek legal advice when drafting your consortium agreement.
Important: Your national or regional funding body may need you to complete additional steps to apply to this Network Projects call. If you do not provide the information required by your national or regional funding body, you may render yourself ineligible to receive public funding.
How applications will be evaluated
1. Impact
- Is the market properly addressed (i.e., size, access and risks)?
- Is the value creation properly addressed (i.e., employment opportunities and environmental and societal benefits)?
- What are the competitive advantages of your project (i.e., strategic importance, enhanced capabilities and visibility)?
- Are your commercialisation plans clear and realistic (i.e., return on investment, geographical and sectoral impact)?
2. Excellence
- What is the degree of innovation? (i.e., is the proposed product, process or service state-of-the-art? Is there sufficient technological maturity and risk)?
- How is new knowledge going to be used?
- Is your project scientifically and technically challenging for consortium partners?
- Is the technical achievability and risk properly addressed?
3. Quality and efficiency of implementation
- What is the quality of your consortium (i.e., balance of the partnership and technological, managerial and financial capabilities of each partner)?
- Is there added value through international cooperation?
- Is your project management and planning realistic and clearly defined (i.e., methodology, planning approach, milestones and deliverables)?
- Is your cost structure reasonable (i.e., costs and financial commitment for each consortium partner)?
4. Overall perception
- Experts will list three positive and negative points about your application and state whether they recommend your project for public funding. Your ministry or funding agency may carry out a further evaluation according to national/regional rules before allocating funding to organisations.
